Chasing Shadows
by Pineapple-Sorceress
Summary: "There's no places for shadows. The lights keep them away, so we're safe." Safelights in the room dimmed. One shut off. "Except for the ones WE cast, so that means-" "We've lessened the places for shadows, but they're connected to us." "So we're screwed."
1. Chapter 1

**Hello! I've been writing a lot lately! I literally JUST got Microsoft Word on my computer, and I've waited FOREVER to get it! Seriously! I have a notepad full of ideas for fanfic! Ok, Anyway… I got my inspiration for this story from the awesome Doctor Who episode 'Silence in the Library'. 2****nd**** story ever; I wrote my 1****st**** yesterday, and I'm kinda sad because I can't upload any stories until tomorrow, Feb 14****th****, since I made my account on the 12****th****. Grr. I have the song 'Mr. Blobby' stuck in my head, and it's driving me nuts! OOH! If you know who John Barrowman is, and are obsessed with him like me, go to youtube and look up something like 'John Barrowman dances to Mr. blobby'. SOO funny! Even if you don't know who he is, look it up! Well, enough of my crappy life, on with the story! Merlin's POV unless I say otherwise! (Authiusda is pronounced**_ oth-ew-s-dah_**)**

**Disclaimer: Sigh. I'm only putting this on the 1st two chapters of this, cause it makes me sad. Idon'townMerlinoritscast,DoctorWhoepisodes,JohnBarrowman,,Micros-oftWord,. Whew. That was hard.**

Chasing Shadows

Chapter 1

It had been three weeks. Three weeks of the curse on Camelot. The curse that killed every noble-born baby boy, or the mother birthing it. Sometimes both. Uther had gone too far again, and I was the one who had to clean up the mess. Again. He killed another innocent person accused of using magic, when it was really her mother. Her mother confessed that it was she that used magic, and while she was on the stake the next morning, she swore that Camelot would pay. Uther had no hesitance killing her. I'd been in the library for hours each day, searching for a way to undo the curse the witch had placed, and found nothing. I walked home quietly, and stumbled through the door.

"Merlin! Where have you been?" Gaius asked impertinently.

"Just at the library," I answered sadly.

"Oh. Did you find anything?"

I shook my head and headed for my bedroom.

It was midnight, and I still hadn't fallen asleep. I got up, and stuck my head out of my door. Gaius was fast asleep, so I snuck out of the room. I made my way to the castle, and into the library. Hours passed and nothing. It was almost dawn, and I found it. The book I had been looking for was under the chair I was sitting on.

I took it and ran to my room again, sat on my bed and opened it.

I woke up to Arthur standing above me.

"What are you doing here?" I asked with distaste

"No way to address a prince. Anyway, have you found anything?"

"Actually, I found a book in the library." I looked around the room for it, but my eyes never dropped to it.

"And I seemed to have lost it…"

"Great. Do you remember anything in it?"

"Yep. Everything, actually."

Arthur had a trace of surprise on his face.

We'd been on horses, stopping to set up camp, and then getting on the horses again for 3 days. It was just Arthur, Morgana, and I. Morgana had heard about where we had to go when I was reciting the book I'd found to Arthur. Of course, she'd insisted that she needed to come with. Arthur tried to shake her off, but he saw the look I gave him and realized what I had. There was no changing Morgana's mind; it was made up. Even Uther knew it. We were almost there. Just another few hours to the Cursed Fort of Authiusda. The ancient fort was so old, there was no information recorded about it other than its name, what it was built up of, and what had recently happened to it.

"How much further away did you say it was, Merlin?" Morgana asked sweetly.

"About an hour."

So, for that hour, they discussed how much they agreed about Uther's intolerance for magic, and how bad it was. The hour had passed, and they found the crumbling fort.

They all suddenly got goose bumps as they gazed up at the moss covered building.

The sky was a dark navy, and the grass around them was dead and dried up. The air smelled faintly of blood, which was given as to the dried blood on the stairs to the entrance of the fort. They tied their horses to a nearby tree, and slowly made their way to the tall tower. They walked in line; Arthur up front, Morgana second, and Merlin last.

Arthur and Merlin watched their feet, but Morgana looked at their surroundings. As Arthur stepped over a fallen tree, Merlin prepared to step over the small ditch Morgana was headed to, and his head darted up as he heard her gasp. She had twisted her ankle in the ditch, and was tipping over. Merlin reached out and fastened his hands around her waist, and helped her step out of the deep hole that was half her height. Morgana let out a deep breath, muttered a 'thanks' and walked on until she lurched over on her bad ankle, and onto Arthur's back.

"You ok?" He asked warily.

"Yes, I'm fine."

The rest of the way, Arthur had his sword drawn, and Merlin was supporting Morgana.

When they reached the door, Arthur hesitated before opening it. It creaked with misuse, and inside was pitch black, other than a very bright light at the end of the left corridor.

They started towards it, and Merlin gasped as he saw who was casting the light.

"Who are you?" Arthur demanded.

The woman slowly turned, and Morgana gasped as she saw the scorched skin of the witch that had supposedly been burned at the stake the earlier morning. The Witch lowered her hood to show the still wet blood at the deeper burns, and, with a eerie smile, stared at Merlin. Morgana passed out into his arms.

Sooo? Like it? If so, review, and I might tell you what's in the Hot Ear spray. (Review and tell me where hot ear is from, and I might just send you a smile in the mail (if you live in the usa, and I'd need your address.) I PROMISE I'M NOT A STALKER! IM 13!) Next chapter will hopefully be up within the next week! NO FLAMES! ONLY CONSTRUCTIVE CRITISICM! Bye! Love: _Pineapple-Sorceress_


	2. Chapter 2

Hello, hello, people of earth! Welcome to….. the LAUREN SUCKS AT EVERYTHING SHE DOES SHOW! JK. I don't suck at EVERYTHING… I'm pretty good at Skyrim. And Bioshock. And Xbox games… Oh well. I'm so happy right now! I get all these messages in school, and I'm all "I'mgoingtokillwhoever'stextingmerightnowbecausethey'regonnagetmecaught" but when I look at it, it's a bunch of emails showing my reviews, subscriptions, and favoriting within the first few hours of uploading the stories! You guys make me so happy to be a fanfiction…er…um…person…thingie… anyway, February 12 is my account's birthday, and so every year that is that day, if I am still writing, I'm gonna try to keep a list of the people who reviewed etc really fast, and I'm gonna give them a HUGE SHOUTOUT in an awesome story I'll try to post! Woo!

**Ps… I just realized that the lines I put on Microsoft Word aren't working, so my stuff is all jumbled, so I'm SO sorry to those that have been confused!**

New line new line new line new line new line new line new line new line new line new li

"Why, hello Arthur. Isn't it lovely seeing a dead woman at this time of night?"

The Witch was smirking as Arthur realized who she was.

"Look, I am truly sorry for what happened to your son, and technically you, but that was my father's doing, not mine."

"And yet you came to do the dirty work." She stated snidely.

"…"

"That's what I thought."

I was trying to wake up the unconscious Morgana before things went bad, but I was having no luck. My heart pounded as I shook her and failed to awaken her.

The witch, sensing my panic, said, "Don't bother, Darling. She'll wake when I leave." With genuine concern.

"Why when you leave?" I asked.

"She's a key part of undoing the curse. I can't let her hear the answers to the problem, now, can I?"

"But i-" Arthur started.

"Hush, young prince. Now, I will say this once, so listen close. _The lights need possibly the greatest secret to light. _Beware the shadows."

And with that, she was gone in smoke. There was a small, ripped piece of parchment folded up. I walked up to it and picked it up. It read: _For Merlin's eyes only. _I picked it up and unfolded it once. This part read: _Do NOT let the sorceress see this. You already know why the prince can't._

I unfolded it for the last time, and it said:

_Listen if you will;_

_Only Shadows can fatally harm you here,_

_Venture on to the right corridor, and remember my earlier words._

_Eventually the lights WILL go out. Look at this again. When they do, follow your heart. _

The note confused me, but I put it into my pocket and walked back.

"What did it say?" Arthur asked with his brow furrowed.

"My eyes, only." I said with a smirk.

We heard a soft gasp and whirled around to see Morgana stirring. I darted over to help her up when her eyes opened. She yawned and asked

"Where are we?"

"At the cursed Fort of Authiusda." I answered softly.

"Oh. Why was I asleep, then?"

Arthur interjected, "You fainted."

As Morgana looked upset about the disgusted way Arthur had said this, so I pushed the conversation away, and said "Let's move on, shall we?"

We walked down the right corridor, just like the note had said, but we stopped at a dead send with absolutely no light.

"Well, now what?" Arthur demanded. We felt around for a few minutes, save Morgana, who was sitting on the floor because of her ankle. I realized we'd only been groping at the walls that were at our height, so I reached higher. I thought my hand had come across something, so I jumped to see if I could reach it any better. That wasn't my greatest idea, since my head collided with a torch post.

"OW! OH MY GODS!"

" What is it, Merlin? Are you alright?" Morgana asked with concern.

"Ow! There's a torch, and when I jumped I banged my head on it."

Morgana gasped and made sounds of discomfort.

Arthur, who had taken to searching the floor, said "Well, it's a good thing there's rocks and wood on in here."

A few hours later, Arthur was still hopelessly banging on the rocks.

"Why aren't these damn rocks WORKING?" He shouted.

Morgana mumbled something inaudible.

"What?"

"Didn't the witch say something about possibly the greatest secret?"

My heart thudded in my chest. I understood THAT part now. My magic was the only thing that could light these torches.

It's time, young warlock.

I immediately recognized the voice of the Great Dragon.

I mentally sighed, and pulled myself together.

"Yes, she did. And now I understand what has to be done." I glanced at Morgana, then locked eyes with Arthur. "I expect that whatever happens in this fort will stay in this fort until the time is right."

I saw the confusion in their eyes, though the room was dim. Morgana would see what I was doing, and understand faster because we both knew she could do the same. I faced the torch, and whispered

"_**Leohtbora**_."

The torch lit with an eerily green glow, and I turned around. Arthur had his mouth slightly open, and his eyes were wide. Morgana was mostly the same, but her hands were covering her mouth and her eyes were filled with tears.

"Bloody hell, Merlin. You're a _sorcerer_?" Arthur said.

My eyes drifted to Morgana, who was using the wall to stand up.

"Morgana, don't. Your ankle-"

I was cut off by an amazingly strong hug from her. As Morgana's head was buried in my neck, she whispered

"I understand."

"I am SO confused!" Arthur yelled. "We go into a fort, the supposedly dead witch that put a curse on Camelot shows up, Merlin goes uncharacteristically quiet after she leaves, now it turns out he's a bloody sorcerer, and that he's hidden it from me all this time, and Morgana seems to know something about it, too! EXPLAIN!"

We just blinked at Arthur's outburst, and I sat us down on the rock floor. Arthur followed suit, and gave me a look that said _you had better explain everything to me, in truth, or I will have your head._

"Okay, then…"

So I explained everything that happened since I arrived, and stopped at Morgana's portion of the story. I looked over at her, and she nodded, signaling me that she was going to finish the story.

"Morgana is a sorceress, too?" Arthur sighed.

"Yes, but she never practiced it." I murmured, playing with sand on the floor.

"Oh, gods."

I stood up, and looked at the wall. There was red ink on it, and it said

_Remember the note. Beware the shadows. There is a basin further in the fort. It can heal the Lady's ankle. Arthur, trust them._

I touched a stone that was further into the wall than the others, and the wall fell away.

Behind it was a giant room that was pitch black, and full of dead bodies.

New line new line new line new line new line new line new line new line new line new li

Sorry that it took forever to write… I kinda lost inspiration.

**I got grounded from tv, my xbox, and all I have left is this. I don't know if it's just me, but when I only have one thing to do, I want to do something else… hmm. I miss my xbox. I got it taken away because I got a D on a paper in school. Life SUCKS! RAWRRR! Oh well. R/R pleasssseee! They make me feel happy inside! If you don't review, ima sic my teddybear, George, on you. You wont survive.**

**Woo! I'm gonna sleep so I can have a dream, and use it in my stories! PEACE!**

_Love, Pineapple-Sorceress. Next chappie up within week. _


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry, not a chapter. I might be offline for a while, because I'm having parent troubles. I am very sorry! I'll update when I feel better.

_Love, Pineapple-Sorceress._


	4. Chapter 4

Hello, people of the world. MY PARENTAL ISSUES ARE ALMOST OVER! WOO! I HAVE INSPIRATION! I don't feel like typing all my life crap, so ENJOY CHAPTER #3!

Morgana shuddered as the stench of the dead came over our noses. I had just figured that the red ink on the wall was in fact blood. Most likely blood from the dead people that littered the fort's floors.

"Okay. I'm going to forget the fact that two of the four closest people in my life have magic, and be curious about why there are bodies here." Arthur said indifferently.

As promised, there was a stone basin in the middle of the room with a glittering fountain that seemed to be spouting pure gold that turned to water when it reached the basin.

_Well, that's part of the wall writing. Now we just need to stay away from shadows, make Arthur trust me, and get me to understand the first note. _I thought.

Arthur followed as I carried Morgana over to the basin, and sat her on the edge.

"What are you doing?" She exclaimed.

"Remember the wall? It said the basin would heal your ankle."

"Oh,"

I cupped water in a hand and dropped it over Morgana's extended foot. She exhaled in relief, and I repeated it a few times.

"Better?" I asked.

She stood and said, "It's sore, but it doesn't feel like me leg is being sawed off."

I looked around the dark room, and found some more torch posts.

"_**Leohtbora.**_"

The torches lit with the jade glow, and Arthur sighed.

"Will I ever get used to you using magic all the time now?"

I replied, "I won't be." And with Arthur's confused face, I added, "Uther."

The non-understanding look vanished as he heard that.

We walked on, with Morgana using my forearm to support her weight, since her ankle was still sore, and Arthur behind us with his sword drawn. We came to a hallway with seven doors, and three of which were crumbled beyond entering, and two others led to collapsed rooms.

"Which way do we go?" Morgana asked.

"Lets see… One two three four five six seven doors, one two three are collapsed, and two are useless. Three plus two is five, and seven minus five is… TWO…!" Arthur exclaimed.

"Wow Arthur. I didn't know you could do math." I grinned.

"Shut up, _Mer_lin."

I kept smiling as we walked closer to the usable doors. I felt Morgana tense through my arm, and I glanced her way. Her face told me she'd seen this in a dream.

"I have a good feeling about going left." Morgana had completely wiped her face of any worry. Since I mostly knew how her dreams worked, I understood that there wasn't really a _good feeling _about the left doorway; it was just that there was a _bad _one from the _right_.

"Then **turn left **we shall." I said.

Morgana gave me a grateful look, and then gripped my arm as we began to walk again.

As we headed down the left corridor, the stench of corpses began to fade, and then eventually disappear. I walked Morgana and I a bit slower than Arthur, so when we were far back enough, I could ask, "What was in the right corridor?"

"The witch from the execution was dead, in the middle of the floor, and there were these creatures**… little glowing lights, that turned into great, green, ugly beasts with wings! They had the most horrid and twisted pixie-like faces, and they did something like suffocate you with rose petals! There were other bodies with rose petals in their mouths **surrounding the witch in a circle. The peculiar part though, was the witch had a dagger in her chest."

"Best not to think about that right now. We have these mystic 'Shadows' to look forward to…" I distracted Morgana from the subject by asking how her ankle was.

"It feels a lot better, thank you, Merlin."

I smiled at her as we approached the next room.

"The right corridor is calling out to me…" Arthur sighed.

"We went left. Deal with it." Morgana snapped.

"Children…" I mockingly scolded.

"Sorry Merliiiiiiin." They unanimously smirked.

We entered what looked like a dining room full of these square torches that were giving off almost blinding light.

"Enough…whatever these light things are?" Arthur mumbled as he covered his eyes.

He was right. There were enough lights to keep every shadow at bay forever. Nothing but us was making shadows, because other than the lights, we were the only things in the room.

Morgana yawned widely, "I am exhausted!"

"It's a good job we brought bedding with us." Arthur agreed.

I unpacked the backpacks we'd brought, and got ready for bed.

I must have been too tired to notice the growing shadow in the very middle of the room.

…tootiredtospelllinecorrectly…

Whew! Holy CRAP! It's been forever! I am SOOOO SORRY! I promise, I've been trying to catch up FOREVER! Seriously, I brought my laptop into the bathroom with me so I could type while my hair air-dried after my shower! (Still dryin…)

**Anyone catch the references? Huh? HUH? Review with the tv show and what it's referring to, AND I'LL GIVE YOU A SHOUT-OUT! :D Best thing ever right? (cough…cough…wrong…) You gotta get BOTH right though! THANK YOU SOOO MUCH FOR BEING THIS PATIENT! I LOVE YOUUUUU! Mwah! :-* kisses! (OR if you prefer, hugs.) !**

_Love, Pineapple-Sorceress._


	5. Chapter 5

I am so sorry! This may sound like I'm trying to grab some attention, but I've been sort of depressed lately… I don't want to bore you with the details, but if you like to hear people's retarded life problems, go ahead and PM me! I've learned how that works, so I've enabled it. Enjoy this chappie!

__

Morgana and I were sitting in a meadow of small cobalt and violet flowers, laying on our backs close together, picking daffodils, talking and smiling. We conversed about our day, and what we planned to do the next day. I turned my head on the grass to see Arthur and Uther walking towards us. Morgana jumped up and ran to give Uther a hug, and seized his hand to pull him to where she had previously sat. Her eyes flashed gold, and the daffodils we'd picked levitated to her side so Uther didn't crush them as he sat.

Uther smiled and complimented us on our flower picking, and Arthur joined us on the ground. I thought it odd that no one commented on the flying plants, but I kept up on the conversation until I noticed the woods growing dark. Clouds were rolling under the sun, causing the field to darken. I looked for Morgana, but all I saw was smashed grass from where they'd been sitting. My vision went completely black, and I started hyperventilating. I felt the sweat drip off my forehead. Someone was shaking my shoulder, and I heard a familiar, yet surprisingly beautiful voice calling out my name urgently.

"_Merlin!"_

"_Merlin!"_

"_MERLIN!"_

My eyes shot open to see Morgana hovering over me, her hair tickling my face.

I shook my head to clear my vision, and my back snapped up straight. We weren't in a field, we were inside a fortress with something hidden in the shadows. The meadow was a dream. Uther could never accept magic if he tried. Morgana stroked my knee as I calmed myself.

"I'm fine." I whispered, seeing that Arthur was still sleeping.

Morgana yawned as she nodded her head, and lied back down. I felt a wave of confusion spread over my mind. I felt something pulling at my stomach, as if the dream was telling me something. I yawned as I thought, then I felt weariness close my eyes faster than the shadows had come in the field dream. _Shadows_.My head hit the pillow I'd brought, and I fell into unconsciousness.

A few hours later, I began to regain the ability to willfully think, which was taken as I slept. I hadn't opened my eyes yet, but I knew where I was. I was lying on the cold stone ground in the Fort of Authiusda, in the middle of the room, on my pillow, under the blanket, and huddled against something warm. Or someone. My eyes rapidly opened, only to be blocked by ebony hair. _Morgana's hair_. I started to freak out. Her head was under my neck, and her arms were tucked under her chin, and I had one hand under my head, supporting it, and the other was flung over her waist. I stopped breathing. Morgana rolled over, her back to me. I'd kept my arm over her hip, and she'd scooted herself back into my chest. **(A/N for all you sweet little kiddies out there, this is a position called SPOONING. If you** **don't know what spooning is, go ask your parents, or some hobo that lives under your local bridge. ON WITH THE STORY!)**

We lied there for what seemed to be an eternity. Morgana yawned, and stretched her limbs as she looked up at my face.

"Good morning." She stated with a small smile.

I chuckled back, "You too."

Her smile grew, and as Arthur snored noisily, we burst out laughing.

"What happened?" Arthur yelled as he sat up.

Morgana smirked and said, "Nothing."

We laughed at Arthur's confused expression, until Morgana noticed the ground.

"Why are there shadows on the floor where the lights are shining?"

We all looked to where she was pointing, and realized that the shadows should be impossible. I thought back to the witch's note.

_Only Shadows can fatally harm you here._

But how could shadows hurt? They're just shadows! When no one was looking, I pulled the note from my pocket.

_Listen if you will;_

_Only Shadows can fatally harm you here,_

_Venture on to the right corridor, and remember my earlier words._

_Eventually the lights WILL go out. Look at this again. When they do, follow your heart. _

Whoops. We turned left. Not right. But Morgana saw a dream from the right corridor, and it was worse than some 'fatal' shadows.

I whispered to myself, "I am SO confused!"

"What?" Arthur asked.

"Nothing. I was just talking to myself." I replied.

"Merlin, come here."

I walked over to Morgana, and she pointed to something in the sinister shadows.

"Is that-"

"A mouse skeleton." She interrupted.

"That wasn't there when we arrived."

"I know. Arthur, bring me something with meat on it, will you?" Morgana yelled.

Arthur came over with some ham, and gave it to Morgana.

She looked at it, checked for the bone, and then seemed to be thinking about something before she threw it into the shadow. It disappeared into the darkness, so I stood up to get a torch. I lit it with magic, ignoring Arthur's shudder, and walked over. The shadow was still there, albeit lighter, and what we saw shocked us. The bone Morgana had been examining was completely cleaned of meat.

!

**That took way too long…. I started this about 3 months ago… oops. Aaanyway, I'M DONE WITH 8TH GRADE! Wooo! No more evil teachers! Sadly, my depression continues. :c sadness. Seriously, I think I started this in March, and it's May 16th now… shiz. I saw this _BEAUTIFUL_ _picture_ of Colin Morgan. MMMM. Yum. Why, oh WHY CAN'T I BE HIS PIMP? WHYYYY? **

**LOVE, **_Pineapple-Sorceress._


	6. Chapter not 5

**Holy chizz! I'm sooooo sorry! I completely forgot about my fanfic account! I've been better about my earlier depressing issues, but new ones have arrived, sadly. If anyone is like me and has to hear EVERY single detail since their curiosity has been spiked, I do frequently check my PM inbox. If I typed everything onto this, I probably wouldn't be able to publish anything anymore because I like, destroyed the Internet with my 9,999,999,999,999,999,999,699,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,366,979,999,999,999,999,9999,001 pages it would take to get half of the story done. Lets just say that I have to tell myself not to cut every time I'm alone… **

**I've been thinking about deleting/discontinuing this, but I'm going to leave that up to you guys. Depression causes writers block for me and/ or my stories to go from flowers and doves and princesses to blood and tears and death/destruction in one sentence. Sometimes I'm in a good mood, but as I'm writing this, I'm in the state of mind where I want to rip the responsible person's head off.**

**Soooo sorry! **

**-love, **_Pineapple-Sorceress_


End file.
